Check your inside front disc pad thickness

My 2004 has 130K miles and the vehicle is being driven by my daughter. While my wife and I were visiting her, she mentioned that the MAINT REQD light was coming on briefly upon startup. Since I didn't have the proper facilities for an engine oil change at her locale, I decided to take the car to the local Toyota dealer.

The tech inspected the car and found that the front brake pads needed to be changed. I looked at the pads on the left front wheel and saw that the inner pad was at 2 mm while the outer was at around 5 mm. (New is 11 mm and minimum spec is 1 mm.)

The dealer price was $320 to replace the front pads, machine the rotors and clean/adjust the rear drum brakes. The price was quite high, especially since I have the correct front pads and new rotors sitting in my garage, but those parts are 500 miles away...

The point of my writing is to encourage DIYers to inspect the inner pad thickness, which can be viewed when you remove the tire and look through the little viewing hole in the caliper. Don't assume that adequate outside pad thickness means that the inner pad automatically is good. Then you can do the needed service at a time and place of your choosing rather than being stung like I was.

No surprise either, to find that the engine oil level is now around 1/4" above the top dimple... However since the engine is consuming oil and I am not sure how often my daughter will check engine oil level, I decided to live with that.

 

1) True. No runout measurement was provided or asked for. Regardless, the rotors were machined and the brakes work well.

2) After adjustment, the parking brake engages with less pedal travel required than before, so the rear brakes may have needed some adjustment. It is customary to spray brake parts cleaner on the drum shoes and drum interior from time to time, while inspecting the rear brakes.